


Ground Control

by barrys_nygma



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fights, M/M, Shatt, Timelines, Torture, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-09
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2019-01-31 07:57:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12677679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barrys_nygma/pseuds/barrys_nygma
Summary: A story of bad things in Shiro's life but there are some good ones too.





	Ground Control

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you so much for coming to read this! I would love to thank my Beta Munchies for reading over this monster and making it 10 times better than it was before!
> 
> I would also love to thank the three artists who made art for this!
> 
> Yumire  
> Aetherlogic  
> SillyOtter
> 
> This was made for the Shiro Big Bang where you can find [Here!](http://voltronbigbang.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Thank you guys so much!!

****

 

**Pain. Pain is the only thing Shiro has ever really felt in his life since he was four years old...**

 

It’s a picturesque day in his little neighborhood. He and his father are out in their front yard kicking a ball between each other.

 

“Come on Shiro, pass it to me!” his father yells across the yard. He waves his arms encouragingly, a bright grin on his face.

 

“Okay dad!” Shiro shouts back with a laugh.

 

This is it. This is how he can show his dad how super he really is!

 

Shiro lifts his leg behind himself and brings it forward with so much force that he almost falls over! His foot comes in contact with the ball and launches it across the yard, past his dad and right into the road.

 

“That was some kick, Shiro! Good job!” his father compliments, laughing a deep laugh.

 

Shiro beams at the praise, then looks to where the ball sits, almost a whole house away from them! He wonders for a second if he can kick it even farther before deciding that he’d like to try.

 

“I’ll get it!” he yells to his dad, running towards the road _without_ looking twice like his mother always told him to.

 

“Shiro no! Stop!” he hears his father scream.

 

Shiro pauses in the middle of the road and looks to his left, just in time to see a car hurtling straight towards him! He can’t even get a scream out before he is thrown out of the way and onto the other side of the road.

 

He can feel a stinging pain on both of his knees and on top of his head.

 

He looks back toward the road and sees his dad lying in the exact spot that he’d been. A man stands over him, breathing heavily and mumbling about how much shit he will be in once the police get there.

 

He doesn’t even think, his legs carrying him over to his father’s side. “Daddy?” Shiro asks in a small, terrified voice.

 

“Oh my god are you okay?” the man standing over his father asks worriedly, looking Shiro up and down as if noticing him for the first time.

 

“I don’t know,” Shiro responds, crawling closer to his father. His eyes are closed and his chest barely moves.

 

Once he is close enough he starts to shake him, calling his name frantically. His voice gets louder and louder as time passes without a response. It’s eventually loud enough for his mother to run outside with his adopted brother, Keith, in her arms.

 

“Shiro, what happened? Oh my god!” she cries as she races towards him.

 

“I already called 911. They’re on their way right now. I’m so sorry. Your son just ran out in the middle of the road and your husband pushed him out of the way and I hit him. I’m so sorry.” the man explains, his hands holding the sides of his face nervously.

 

“Shiro, are you okay?” his mother asks shakily, trying to hold back her fear.

 

“I’m okay, mama, but what’s wrong with daddy?” Shiro asks, confused. He tries to walk back over to him, but his mother intercepts him and pulls him into a fierce hug.

 

“He’s just hurt okay? But he’s going to be fine,” his mother says, holding him and Keith close to her.

 

It takes the ambulance arriving and paramedics rushing his father away for Shiro to realize what has happened.

 

Daddy is hurt so badly that his mama can’t fix him.

 

~

 

His father doesn’t come home right away. Mama tells him that the doctors set a nice room up for him at the hospital to make sure that he gets better faster. Shiro wants to ask more questions, but he can tell that his mama doesn’t like to talk about it. Two days pass...

 

“Shiro, baby, come on we have to go,” his mother calls to him while picking Keith up off the floor.

 

“Where are we going? Are we going to see daddy?” he asks, walking behind her with his small backpack on his back.

 

“That’s exactly where we’re going,” she says as she buckles Keith into his car seat.

 

Shiro nods, hopping up into his own seat. After a moment of hesitation, he asks, “Mama, are you mad at me?”

 

His mother’s head shoots up, a look of surprise on her face. “Of course not, baby! I’m just concerned for your father.” She gives him a small smile as she straps him in and secures his belts.

 

“I didn’t mean to do whatever I did wrong,” Shiro tells his mother, feeling his throat start to close up and his eyes burn.

 

“Takashi, none of this is your fault,” she assures him firmly. “I’m just glad that you’re safe and okay.” His mom kisses his forehead, running her fingers gently through his hair.

 

He whimpers and nods his head, trying to stay strong. He has to be strong. For his little brother. For his mama.

 

The ride to the hospital is the longest trip they’ve ever taken. Keith spends most of it babbling in his little baby talk. Shiro watches Keith as he stares up at the ceiling of the car and plays with his jingling keys and rattle. Looking at how carefree and happy he is, he decides that he will always, ALWAYS protect Keith from everyone and everything bad.

 

“Shiro, what are you thinking about?” his mother asks, her eyes meeting his through the rearview mirror.

 

“That I want to protect Keith the same way daddy protected me. I don’t want anything bad happening to him,” he replies confidently, a small grin on his face.

 

“Well you don’t have to do that just yet. That’s what me and your father are here for. We will protect both of you for as long as we live, okay?” She flashes a smile at him before parking the car at the ER.

 

Upon entering, his mother walks up to the desk and checks in with their last name.

 

The receptionist hands her a clipboard. “The doctors will have to brief you on everything, so the children can’t go in, yet. Just sign them in here and we’ll take both of them to the children’s room.”

 

His mother fills the form out and hands it back to the woman. After checking the papers, the receptionist lets them in and directs them to a small room filled with toys. The walls are decorated with animals and the floor is carpeted.

 

“Okay, Shiro,” his mother says with a bright smile, “you stay close to your brother alright?” She sets Shiro down inside the playpen and places Keith in his carrier beside him.

 

“Okay mommy.” Shiro replies, putting his hand on the handle of Keith’s carrier.

 

“Love you, sweetheart.” She kisses both of their foreheads. “I’ll be back soon.

 

As he watches his mother walk through the doors to the ER room his father is in, he hears Keith start his little baby talks again.

 

“I’m gonna make sure you’re okay. You’ll always be safe with me Keith,” he says taking a seat beside the carrier.

 

Shiro sits in the same spot for what feels like years to him as he listens to Keith and his carefree little babbles. Finally, a shadow hovers over them. He looks up to find a nurse standing above them both.

 

“Are you hungry Shiro?” the nurse asks, stooping down to his level of eyesight.

 

“Yes ma’am, but do you have something for my brother? He likes his bottles.” Shiro looks at Keith, who is surprisingly still awake.

 

“Of course we do! Do you want to eat while I feed him?”

 

All Shiro has to do is pull the carrier closer to him for the nurse to have their answer.

 

“I’ll take that as a no. Here.” The nurse hands him a bottle. “Do you know how to hold it so he doesn’t suck up air?”

 

Shiro nods his head and puts the tip of the bottle to Keith’s mouth, who immediately starts eating.

 

“Are you sure you’re four? You act very old for your age.” The nurse comments while sitting in a chair in front of them.

 

“I’m sure I’m four. I mean that’s what my daddy tells me,” Shiro replies, slightly confused by the question.

 

The nurse smiles at him and sets a tray down in front of him.

 

“Here’s your food for whenever you’re done feeding your brother,” they say before walking out of the room, leaving Shiro and Keith on their own once again.

 

Once Keith is finished with his bottle, Shiro starts on his own food, keeping an eye on his brother as he starts to fall asleep.

 

When he is own plate is cleared, his mother walks into the room and gives him a bright smile.

 

“Your father is fine. He just has some broken bones and a concussion. Do you want to come back to see him?” she asks, picking up Keith’s carrier.

 

Shiro nods quickly, grabbing his mother’s hand tightly and throwing his trash into the garbage.

 

As they walk into the room his father is in, the first thing to catch his eyes are the wires hooked up to his dad. There are so many of them, and they freak him out a little bit.

 

“Shiro!” his father grins at him.

 

Shiro runs up to him and jumps up on the foot of the bed.

 

“Daddy! Are you okay now?” he asks frantically, scanning to make sure that he isn’t bleeding anymore.

 

“Yes, I’m fine now,” his father assures, taking Shiro’s small hand in his own. “Don’t worry about me. Are you okay?”

 

“I’m okay thanks to you!” Shiro says, beaming at his dad.

 

“And Keith? Are you being a good big brother to him?” his father asks.

 

“The best big brother ever!” Shiro agrees, lifting his arms above his head.

 

His father laughs as Shiro scoots closer to his side and puts his head in his lap.

 

He never ever wants to go through something like this ever again. He’s going to protect everything and everyone that is ever close to him. Even if it kills him in the process.

 

~

 

The next time he feels pain it’s not as forgiving.

 

He’s in a car with his friend Chris as they listen to the music blasting through the speakers. He looks over at Chris as he’s smiling and he feels a pull in his gut that has been with him from the moment he first laid eyes on him.

 

Shiro always knew that he was different from the other guys in school. He didn’t care what girls wore or what they looked like because that wasn’t his _taste._ He always knew he liked boys more than girls and he was okay with that. His parents surprisingly took it very well. Keith just muttered ‘finally’ under his breath as he smiled and playfully tackled Shiro to the ground.

 

He tells a joke, watching Chris’s nose crinkle up in laughter, his hands gripping the steering wheel like he’s holding on for dear life. Chris’s eyes sparkle under the passing street lights, and Shiro can’t think of a better sight to behold.

 

“Chris... I think I like you,” he accidentally blurts out.

 

Chris pauses and looks over at Shiro like he’s grown a second head. The air tenses, and Shiro can’t help but sink into his seat.

 

“Shit, I didn’t mean to say that out loud! I-I’m sorry,” Shiro frantically backpedals, burying his face in his hands.

 

“Shiro,” is all Chris manages to say as he speeds through a red light and a car barrels into them on the left side. On Chris’s side.

 

Everything moves in slow motion. Shiro hears wheels squealing. He smells burning rubber. He feels the airbag crushing against him, shattered glass cutting into his arms. He sees the shards and blood as their car flips over twice before settling into a ditch. He tastes blood and bile on the back of his tongue as they finally stop moving.

 

Shiro’s heart is still rabbiting in his chest as Chris makes a wet sound and a groan.

 

“Chris, oh my god!” Shiro mutters as he scrambles haphazardly out of his side of the car and tumbles into the dirt. He lifts himself up off the ground to get to the car door. It easily gives way from his weight, allowing him to see everything.

 

Chris’s arm is bent at a weird angle, as is his right leg. He spots blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth as he squeezes his eyes shut.

 

“Chris, I’m so sorry!” he cries out as he lifts Chris up out of the car and sets him onto the ground.

 

Chris screams in pain as he’s placed on the ground, and from this angle, Shiro can see a piece of metal stuck in Chris’s right side.

 

“No no no no no,” Shiro mumbles over and over as he grips the piece of metal in his trembling hands.

 

“Chris, I’m going to have to pull this out so I can stop the bleeding until help comes,” Shiro explains, taking his shirt off and holding the shirt to the metal. He pulls hard and fast, gritting his teeth as Chris howls in pain.

 

“Just hold on Chris, help is coming, I promise!” Shiro assures quickly as he checks Chris’s pulse. He’s not sure if he’s being paranoid, but it definitely feels slower than it should be.

 

Shiro can feel the panic starting to settle in his chest as he looks at the crowd of people gathering around.

 

“S-Shiro…” Chris chokes out weakly, “I-I’m so s-sorry.”

 

“Chris, we’re getting help right now! You can apologize later.” Shiro argues firmly, applying more pressure to the wound.

 

Chris shakes his head and closes his eyes, wincing as he draws in a deep, shaky breath.

 

“Chris, don’t you dare close your eyes!” Shiro yells frantically.

 

When Shiro shakes Chris’s shoulder and he doesn’t respond, he knows something is horribly wrong.

 

“Chris!” Shiro screams, checking his breathing. “No no no no no!”

 

He doesn’t feel Chris’s breaths at all when he checks so he starts performing chest compressions.

 

“Come on Chris!” he yells at him, pressing down.

 

He leans down, puts his ear to his mouth, and doesn’t hear anything. He starts to administer CPR after the compressions.

 

He’s so into trying to save Chris that he doesn’t realize the paramedics have arrived, along with the police and the fire department.

 

“Sir, we need you to step back,” one of the paramedics tells him as he’s carried away from Chris. “We’ll try everything we can to save him.”

 

Shiro is placed onto his own stretcher and put into a separate ambulance and is sped away from the scene.

 

That’s when he feels the pain all over. That’s when he can feel the heaviness of sleep falling over him. That’s when he realizes he will probably never talk to Chris again.

 

~

 

When he wakes up, he’s in a hospital room with wires and tubes connected to him.

 

He looks over his shoulder and sees Keith to his right, sound asleep on the couch in the room, along with his mother in the chair beside Keith holding his hand. To his left, his father stands just outside of the cracked door talking to the doctor.

 

All Shiro can do is lay his head back down on the pillow and groan softly.

 

“Shiro?” he hears Keith mumble in a sleep-heavy voice.

 

“Keith,” Shiro rasps out, voice barely audible. He slowly cracks his eyes open, spotting Keith getting up and walking towards the bed.

 

“How are you feeling?” his brother asks, sitting down on the chair beside the bed.

 

“Sore. Really sore,” Shiro responds. It’s partially true - a lot of his body is still numb from sleep, but what he can feel aches like hell.

 

“I bet. That was some accident.” Keith agrees, looking down at Shiro’s hand.

 

There’s a moment of hesitation, an unspoken question sitting heavily on Shiro’s tongue. Keith seems to anticipate it, though he still winces when it leaves Shiro’s lips. “Is Chris okay?”

 

Keith only looks up and sets his mouth in a straight line.

 

“Shiro, I think you should rest a little bit more.” Keith says instead, rubbing Shiro’s hand lightly.

 

“Keith, just tell me if Chris is okay,” Shiro asserts determinedly. He needs to know. He didn’t have many dreams while he was unconscious, but he recalls flickers of the accident, flashes of Chris’s prone body in his arms, guilt tearing at his heartstrings. He won’t be able to rest until he knows the truth.

 

Keith realizes this with a heavy sigh. He bits his lip in that way that Shiro recognizes as his nervous tell, eyes cast down and fists clenching and unclenching restlessly before he finally settles on taking Shiro’s hand.

 

“Chris passed away last night,” he mumbles, squeezing Shiro’s hand apologetically. “He had too much internal bleeding. There was nothing they could do.”

 

Shiro takes a deep breath and holds it for a while before exhaling and closing his own eyes.

 

“Shiro, I’m so sorry,” Keith says mournfully.

 

“You know what I did right before it happened? I told him I liked him. He was looking at me when that car T-boned us. This is all my fault.” Shiro says feeling his throat closing up and his eyes burning. “He… He didn’t even see it coming.”

 

“Hey, this isn’t your fault. At all.” Keith assures Shiro, stroking his thumb over his hand softly.

 

That doesn't stop Shiro’s tears from streaming down his face. Keith rests his head lightly on Shiro's chest, as if he's hugging him close, and closes his eyes.

 

“Everything's gonna be alright, Shiro. I promise.” Keith tells him as he tries to stay awake.

 

Shiro just nods and puts his hand on Keith’s head and closes his eyes, trying to go to sleep. But sleep doesn’t find him for a very long time.

 

His dreams are plagued by Chris’s sparkling eyes and melodious laughter, both of which he knows he’ll never experience again.

 

~

 

The third time Shiro remembers isn’t as tragic. He knows that for sure. Shiro is sitting at his desk at the Galaxy Garrison and is hyperventilating about his upcoming flight simulation. He can’t retain anything, his stupid head keeps psyching him out! What would happen if he crashes? What should he do if there is an asteroid field ahead of him? What should he tell the crew if something bad happens?

 

He can’t remember any of the answers because his stupid head won’t keep the information in - and he’s been studying _all fucking night_ for this simulation!

 

“Shiro, are you okay?” The small voice suddenly breaks through his internal argument, startling him.

 

He turns around and spots his roommate, and crush Matt Holt standing beside an older man.

 

In an attempt to save face from his apparent psychotic breakdown, Shiro runs his hands through his hair and offers a grim smile. “Yeah, I’m just studying for this simulator exam that I’m probably gonna fail. No big deal.”

 

Matt scoffs, waving his pessimism away with a hand. “I’m sure you’ll be amazing, Shiro! You’re the best pilot in our class!” Matt assures him, plopping down beside him.

 

“Thanks Matt.” Shiro ducks his head to hide the blush that wells up at the praise.

 

The older man reminds them of his presence with a cough, smiling at both of them when their gazes shoot to him.

 

“Matt, who is this?” the older man asks, beaming so brightly that it shines in his eyes. “Your boyfriend?”

 

“Dad! No!” Matt almost shrieks, cheeks as rouge as his T-shirt. “This is Shiro, my roommate and my fighter pilot in class.”

 

“Well it’s nice to finally meet you, Shiro! I’m Sam Holt, Matt’s father. My wife and I have heard a lot about you.” Matt’s father amicably reaches his hand out for Shiro to shake.

 

“All good things, I hope!” Shiro replies shaking his hand and smiling back at the older man.

 

“Of course! Matt praises you when he comes back home for the holidays. Won’t shut up about his amazing roommate,” Sam chuckles.

 

“Dad, please,” Matt mumbles under his breath, holding his face in his hand in embarrassment.

 

“Okay, okay. Now, Shiro, what are you having trouble with? Maybe I can help. Bear with me, though; I’m an old man and it’s been awhile since my Garrison days.” Sam takes a seat beside his son, looking over the notes and open pages spread across Shiro’s desk.

 

“Oh no, I wouldn’t want to bother you sir!” Shiro argues, shaking his head. “You’re here with Matt and I’d hate to waste your time together!”

 

“It’s no bother! I’m actually here to scout potential pilots for the Kerberos mission. I’ve already been delegated as the Communications Officer. And Matt here was just confirmed as the engineer for the mission,” Sam explains, clapping a proud hand on Matt’s back.

 

“Well that’s actually what I’m studying for!” Shiro replies, looking up at the space poster hanging up above his desk. “I _really_ want to go on this mission! I’ve always dreamed of seeing what’s out there.”

 

“Let’s get started, then!” Sam grins, snatching a pile of Shiro’s notes and sitting down the bed closest to the desk. He hands half of the stack to Matt so they can take turns quizzing him.

 

All three of them remain in their positions until Shiro answers all of the questions correctly.

 

“See Shiro? I told you you could do it!” Matt cheers, jumping up from his seat and hugging Shiro.

 

“Thanks, Matt. And thank you for your help, Sam. I feel like I’m ready for the simulator now!” Shiro declares, standing up.

 

“What time is your test, Shiro?” Matt asks, glancing at the clock. They hadn’t even noticed the hours pass.

 

“It’s actually in thirty minutes. That’s why I was trying to study before you guys came in,” Shiro replies, standing and stretching before retrieving his pilot uniform from his closet.

 

“Well, we’ll leave you to your thing. You’re going to do great Shiro! I believe in you!” Matt beams, throwing his arms around Shiro enthusiastically.

 

“Thanks again, Matt.” Shiro waves them off as they exit the room.

 

He takes a deep breath as soon as the door shuts behind them, then starts to pull on his pilot uniform.

 

As he walks out of his room and closes the door, he sees Keith walking towards him in his own Garrison uniform.

 

“Shiro! I was just coming to wish you good luck!” he exclaims, hugging Shiro.

 

Shiro smiles softly at him. “Thanks, Keith! You wanna come watch?” He gestures towards the simulator encouragingly.

 

“Yeah, sure!” Keith nods, falling into step beside his older brother.

 

As they walk, they see one of the younger classes of pilots and engineers gathering just outside to observe.

 

“Today, we’re going to watch a demonstration from one of the fighter pilots in contention to go on the Kerberos mission,” Commander Iverson explains to the class. “This afternoon is Mr. Shirogane’s turn.”

 

“Oh, Hunk, I’m so excited! He’s like the best pilot here,” a tall, slender kid gushes to another.

 

“Blow them away!” Keith tells Shiro, patting him on the shoulder before stepping aside.

 

Shiro nods to him before entering the flight simulator, sitting down in the pilot seat.

 

He puts his hands on the controls and Iverson starts the simulation.

 

Shiro looks forward and suddenly feels the weight on his shoulders. He tries to take in his surroundings, but he has tunnel vision. He looks forward and sees a small clearing approaching him and the ship. He shifts the controls to the side and maneuvers the ship into a quick left turn, threading it between the two huge rocks in his way.

 

He then turns the ship to the right and slides into another tight fit, then zips down close to the surface of Kerberos. He circles the base stationed on the surface slowly and efficiently, ensuring that there are no hazards or obstacles as he gently brings the ship down onto the surface of the moon.

 

He breathes in and out slowly, trying to calm himself down as he flicks all of the controls to turn the ship off. He closes his eyes, heart finally settling as he hears the voice of the computer confirming that the trial was successfully completed.

 

As he gathers himself to face everyone, he hears the doors opening. Keith stands beside Matt and his father sporting a proud grin.

 

“Hunk, did you see that? That was awesome! Did you see how he made the ship turn sideways like that?” the slender kid in the front recounts to everyone in the room. Shiro looks over to see the kid staring up at him with an unexplainable fire in his eyes.

 

“Outstanding job, Shirogane. We’ll review all of the pilots who auditioned to go on the mission and we’ll get back to you guys later tonight with our result,” Iverson announces before calling his cadets to stand and walk back to class.

 

“Shiro, that was great!” Keith praises, running up to him and clapping him on the back.

 

“Thanks, Keith. You can come to my room tonight if you want to hear the results. I’ll be there with Matt and probably his dad too,” Shiro responds, smiling at Keith.

 

“Alright, I’ll be there!” Keith salutes to him then takes his leave, walking up to the cheery cadet from before.

 

“Shiro!” Matt’s voice boomed from beside him. Shiro whirled around just in time to catch the brunet’s hug. “That was amazing!”

 

“Thanks, Matt! I really hope I get it. I’ve been working so hard for this! It’s what I’ve waited for.” Shiro replies, hugging Matt close.

 

“I’m sure you’ll get it!” Matt beams confidently up at him. “Dad and I have watched all the simulations. Yours has been the best so far!”

 

“That’s great to hear! Hopefully Iverson thinks so, as well.” Shiro breathed out, smiling back down at his closest friend.

 

He put his arm around Matt’s shoulders as they walked back to their room to wait for the final result from Iverson and the other generals of the Garrison.

 

Hours later, they hear a small knock on the door. Shiro anxiously opens it to find Keith brandishing a tray of cookies with a bright grin.

 

“I thought you could use some food for the wait,” he explains, placing them on the desk at the other side of the room.

 

“Thanks, Keith. I’m just a little too nervous to eat right now,” Shiro responds with a small smile, looking back down at his hands.

 

“It shouldn’t be too much longer now,” Matt assures, rubbing Shiro’s back softly.

 

“Shiro, you were amazing! This one kid in my class wouldn’t shut up about it! He got thrown into detention for the rest of the day because he just kept talking about it,” Keith chuckled with slight fondness.

 

Matt nudged him with his shoulder, a smirk on his lips. “See? Already making an impact on the young ones.”

 

Another knock on the door silenced Shiro’s laughter.

 

Sam stood to open it this time, revealing Iverson and two other commanders.

 

“Takashi Shirogane, we came to tell you that you have officially been selected to be the pilot for the Kerberos mission that is set to take place in a year and a half. Your training will start next week. Congratulations, Officer Shirogane.” Iverson smiles with a hint of pride.

 

“Thank you, sir,” Shiro says breathlessly as he salutes the three older commanders.

 

Once Sam closes the door, Matt suddenly jumps into Shiro’s arms, hugging him close.

 

“Shiro! You did it!” he cheers loudly, grabbing Shiro’s face. Shiro’s eyes widen as Matt presses their lips together in a quick peck.

“Oh my,” Sam chuckles behind his hand.

 

“Matt, oh my god!” Keith laughs out, holding his stomach.

 

Matt pulls his head back quickly, cheeks red as a tomato. “I’m uh,” he stutters as Shiro stares at him in bewilderment.

 

Shiro blinks a few times before he grabs Matt’s face and pulls him up toward his, pushing his lips to Matt’s again.

 

“I’m just gonna go... Congrats, Shiro,” Keith mutters while slipping past the door quickly.

 

“I have to go back home to your mother and sister, Matthew. Good luck with your training, Shiro!” Sam waves as the roommates pull away from each other.

 

“Bye, dad,” Matt says, hiding his face in Shiro’s shoulder.

 

“Thank you, Commander Holt,” Shiro nods, blushing like mad as he raises his hand to salute him.

 

“I think we can use first names now, wouldn’t you agree?” Sam teases as he opens the door. “Matthew, call your mother.”

 

The door shuts behind him, silence filling the room.

 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Matt mutters into Shiro’s shoulder, still hiding his face.

 

Shiro pushes Matt upright, a hand steadying his shoulder and another tilting his chin up so he can look him in the eyes.

 

“It’s perfectly okay. I’ve... wanted that for such a long time,” Shiro admits with a smile. “I didn’t care who watched.”

 

“Well, if you ever want to do it again, you’ve gotta take me out on a date first!” Matt replies with a slight smirk to his face.

 

“Then how does a date to a moon sound?” Shiro suggests, leaning down closer to his face.

 

“That would be a lousy first date, if you ask me, but I guess it would work.” Matt grins, leaning up towards his lips once again.

  
  
  


“Alright, so this is where we get the ice. I’m gonna land the ship down now so we can rest before we have to go out there,” Shiro says into his headpiece, gliding the ship into the area they need to be in.

 

“Finally! I can eat and sleep!” Matt wails, throwing his arms in the air dramatically.

 

“Just don’t do anything bad that the Garrison can see, son. The cadets don’t need to see all of that... again,” Sam scolds.

 

“Dad, listen. We didn’t know that there were cameras all over this ship,” Matt argues, crossing his arms. “I mean, in the sleeping quarters? Seriously?”

 

“Wait, what did they catch you two doing?!” Sam asks his eyes wide in horror.

 

“Kissing! What else?” Matt blushes.

 

“I’m not going to comment on this conversation,” Shiro mumbles, thanking the gods that he’s facing the opposite direction of his boyfriend’s father.

 

“Matthew, you need to elaborate more next time. I thought they caught you two doing something worse!” Sam replies, clutching his chest.

 

“Dad, you are on this ship with us. Like we would do that with you around, jeez!” Matt grumbles.

 

“Can we stop talking about this? They can hear us through the stream, remember?” Shiro points out with a slight shudder as he lands the ship successfully.

 

Samuel says stretches and releases a yawn as he walks out of the room. “I’m going to sleep now. You two, don’t be so loud when you come to bed.”

 

“Okay, you landed the ship, let’s go sleep!” Matt whines, pulling at Shiro’s arm.

 

“Matt, I need food first. I’m starving, Mister ‘I can eat the whole trip here today,’” Shiro complains, getting up and stretching.

 

“But Shiro, I’m tired!” Matt replies, leaning on Shiro.

 

“Go lay down with Sam, then,” Shiro chuckles, attempting to shrug him off.

 

“Um, no, that’s my dad. That’d be weird,” Matt declares into Shiro’s shoulder.

 

“Well then you can wait five minutes while I eat these dry pop tarts,” Shiro shrugs with a slight smirk on his face as he tears the foil open.

 

“You’re the worst! I can confirm,” Matt scoffs, scowling at his boyfriend.

 

“Hmmm, you sure about that? You told me this morning when we woke up that I was the best boyfriend,” Shiro shoots back through a mouthful of crumbs.

 

“I lied,” Matt retorts, crossing his arms.

 

“Guess you can sleep by yourself, then.” Shiro turns his back to him as he throws away his trash.

 

“Shiro, no, don’t do this to me!” Matt whines, throwing his arms around Shiro apologetically.

 

“See, you wasted all that time complaining when you could have been asleep by now, but nope, you were here running your mouth.” Shiro states, walking towards the sleeping quarters.

 

“Don’t be smart with me, Shiro.” Matt pokes Shiro in the back petulantly.

 

Shiro rolls his eyes and grabs Matt’s arm from behind him, swinging him to his side. “Come on, let’s go sleep, ya doofus.”

 

Matt sighs, but allows himself to be tugged along, falling into the upright bed with Shiro as he pulled the covers over them both.

  
  


The next morning, they rise and get suited up to go retrieve the ice samples that the Garrison tasked them to collect.

 

Shiro carries the heavy equipment as the other two men tote the cooler for the ice. It’s set to adapt to the temperature of the surface of the moon and keep the samples intact for their arrival back to Earth.

 

“Okay, I’m going to nail this down into the ground, then we can start with the experiment,” Shiro explains as he picks up the hammer and a big metal stake.

 

“Yes, Shiro, use those muscles!” Matt smirks at him. “It’s what they were made for!”

 

“Matt, can you not in front of your father, please,” Shiro groans, face flushed pink under his helmet.

 

“If you two don’t get married after this, I’ll be highly disappointed,” Sam comments with a sigh at his son’s antics.

 

“Who says I wanna marry Shiro? Maybe I just use him for his stunning good looks and his muscles,” Matt replies slyly.

 

“Well, first of all, Shiro is out of your league,”  Sam states plainly. “And secondly, you two don’t shut up about each other.”

 

“Dad! How dare you burn your own son like that! I’m wounded,” Matt gasps as he puts his hand to his heart.

 

“Thanks, Matt. It’s nice to see how much you love me,” Shiro says, striking the metal stake.

 

“Don’t be like that, Shiro, you know how much I love you!” Matt cooes, making kissing noises.

 

“Please don’t,” Shiro laughs out.

 

“You’re such a party pooper! Why do I date you?” Matt pouts, crossing his arms again.

 

“Too bad you’re stuck with me,” Shiro says as he sets down the hammer. “Okay, all done! You can start gathering the ice samples now.”

 

“I could break up with you whenever I wanted,” Matt shoot back, setting up the drill.

 

“But you wouldn’t,” both Shiro and Sam say at the same time.

 

“This is a hate crime,” Matt grumbles under his breath as he fastens the drill to the rope attached to the metal frame.

 

“I love you!” Shiro chuckles.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Matt mutters as he turns the drill on and watches as it burrows into the hard surface of the moon.

 

Shiro’s reply dies on his tongue when he hears the drill stop and start to come back up. He peers over Matt’s shoulder curiously as the container reaches the surface.

 

“Oh my god! It got ice!” Matt announces, lying on the ground to get a closer look.

 

As the drill is pulled up fully, Matt squeals and retrieves the sample as Shiro holds the top part of the drill steady for him.

 

“Easy, son. This ice is delicate,” Sam instructs with a smile on his face.

 

“Isn’t this exciting Shiro?!” Matt cheers, looking up excitedly as he gently grabs the ice and starts to pull it out of the chamber.

 

“You guys get a little more excited about ice samples than I do,” Shiro replies, smiling down at his boyfriend.

 

“This is history in the making! Not only have we traveled farther than any human ever has, but this ice could hold microscopic clues about the existence of life outside Earth,” Sam says, bending down to get a better look at the ice his son is excavating.

 

“Think of it, Dad. We could use those clues to become the first people to meet aliens!” Matt agrees, finally getting the ice out of the mechanism and into the cooler.

 

Suddenly, the moon starts to shake beneath them, foreign winds sweeping violently across the surface. Shiro looks up and spies a huge purple battlecruiser coming towards them.

 

“Drop everything and run! Run!” Shiro screams as he grabs Matt’s hand and bolts for their ship.

 

“Dad!” Matt cries out as he reaches back for him.

 

“Run, you two, keep going!” Sam yells back, struggling to keep up.

 

“Matt, come on! We have to go!” Shiro yells back to Matt, dragging him along by his hand.

 

“Shiro, no! Not without my dad!” Matt screams back, trying to wrench his hand away.

 

“Matt, this is what I was trained for! Don’t fight with me on this! It’s my job to protect you guys! Your dad was the one who told me to take you if anything bad happened,” Shiro yells, pulling Matt closer to him.

 

“I don’t give a flying fu-” Matt tried to scream out, but they are caught in the tractor beam and yanked up into the atmosphere, everything quickly dissolving into black for both of them.

  
  


When Shiro finally woke back up he was handcuffed with his helmet knocked off. His black hair in front of his face. He looked to his right and saw Matt and Sam in the same position as him but with their helmets still on.

 

“Please let us go! We mean you no harm we come in peace!” Shiro yelled out to the alien looking being in front of him.

 

“Be quiet!” One of guards behind him grunted out as they hit him upside the head with their gun.

 

Before he was knocked out he could hear Matt cry out his name.

 

When he woke up once again he was being dragged on the ground backwards and he saw either Matt or Sam walking behind him with one of the guards.

 

“Throw him in this cell.” The guard said opening the door and throwing Shiro in.

 

“Put these on.” The guard says throwing clothes in Shiro’s face.

 

“Shiro!” He heard Matt scream his name as another door closed further down the hall.

 

“Don’t touch him!” Shiro yelled out banging on the door.

 

He heard Matt scream out in pain before he was hit in the face with the hilt of a gun.

 

“Put those clothes on and maybe we’ll let you see your friend again.” The guard said.

 

Shiro quickly stripped and put the black one piece suit on with the purple burlap shirt over top of it as long as the thin black shoes for his feet.

 

“Now let me see him. Please.” Shiro pleaded on his knees.

 

“We’ll think about it. If your boy toy cooperates with us then we’ll consider.” The guard replied with a smirk on his face.

 

Shiro could feel his chest start to vibrate from anger.

 

“If you touch him so help me.” Shiro almost growls out.

 

“We’ll see.” The guard replies in his face.

 

“Don’t fucking touch him!” Shiro yells head butting the guard hard.

 

“You little shit!” The guard yelled and hit him again with his gun harder this time that Shiro could taste blood in his mouth.

 

“Get the other and make him _suffer_.” The guard grumbled out.

 

“No!” Shiro screams out before he’s knocked out once again.

  
  


“Shiro! Shiro! Oh please wake up!” He heard Matt plead shaking his shoulder.

 

Shiro moaned and held his head in his hands and rolled over.

 

“Oh thank goodness.” Matt said while hugging Shiro close to him.

 

“Did they hurt you?” Shiro asked with eyes still closed.

 

“No. Once they knocked you out they brought me over here after I was done changing. I don’t know why they didn’t put us together anyway. Nothing that I haven’t seen before amiright?” Matt said jokingly.

 

“Heh. Yeah you’re right.” Shiro replied as he put his head in Matt’s lap.

 

“I’ll get us out of here. I promise.” Shiro mumbled into Matt’s stomach hold him close to him.

 

“I know you are. I know.” Matt replied running his hand through Shiro’s hair as Shiro started to drift off to sleep again.

 

When Shiro wakes again he sees the door sliding open as the sentries come in and they grab both him and Matt off the ground.

 

“Wha- what’s going on?” Matt asks as he’s being held by one of the sentries.

 

“You’re going to the arena with the others.” The purple alien replies.

 

“Where’s my dad?” Matt asks desperately.

 

“That’s none of your concern.” The guard says pushing them both out of the room towards the big double doors.

 

“Shiro oh my god what’s going to happen to us?” Matt says with his face in between his hands.

 

“Nothing! I won’t let anything happen to you.” Shiro assures Matt by taking his hand in his.

 

“What about you though Shiro? I don’t want anything to happen to you!” Matt worries.

 

“Don’t worry I’ll be fine. This is what I trained for remember?” Shiro says softly squeezing Matt’s hand tightly.

 

When the double doors opened they both saw the other prisoners waiting in two lines to go into the bigger arena area. What the two young men saw scared them both to their core.

 

They saw a bigger alien waving around a club like thing with a ball of electricity around the arena.

 

“What is that?” Shiro asked breathlessly.

 

“That is Myzax and we’ll have to fight him until one of us wins.” One of the other prisoners answered back.

 

“I’m not gonna make it Shiro. I can’t do this! I’ll never see my family again! What is Katie going to do? You know she has separation issues!” Matt says almost to the point of tears.

 

“Matt look at me! You can do this! I believe in you!” Shiro assured Matt.

 

The force field in front of them goes up and the sentry in front of them points at Matt with the sword in his hand.

 

Shiro saw red. There was going to be no way that they were going to hurt Matt.

 

He grabs Matt’s shoulder and pushes him to the ground and runs past him and fights the sentry for the sword in its hand and once he gets ahold of it he turns back around towards the prisoners again.

 

“This is my fight,” Shiro screamed slashing the sword through the air and slicing Matt’s knee, and landing on top of Matt on the floor, “I want blood!”

 

“Take care of your father,” Shiro says while giving Matt a soft kiss and putting his forehead against his.

 

He was then ripped away as Matt silently sobbed while holding his knee, and stared up in horror at Shiro.

 

Shiro was then thrown into the arena with loud roars from the crowd all around him. He barely had enough time to think about what was happening before a glowing ball of electricity hit him square in the face on the bridge of his nose. It knocks his head back and slams him to the ground flat on his back as blood already starts to stream up his face close to his eyes.

 

Shiro gets up as quickly as he can, grabs the sword from the ground, runs behind one of the pillars, and tries to catch his breath in the process. He peeks around the pillar, and sees Myzax throwing his ball towards the pillar he was behind. Shiro quickly tucked into himself and rolls away behind another pillar and squeezes his eyes closed. All he can think about is Matt and how scared he looked before he was pulled away from him. It was making his thinking process scrambled and he couldn’t concentrate on the task at hand, and that was fighting Myzax.

 

Shiro could hear the ball of electricity coming towards him again as he rolls away once again. He looks up to the monster in front of him and see’s that the ball has come back to the club that Myzax holds in his hand. He runs over quickly and slashes at Myzax’s legs quickly and the monster yells a loud yelp and the crowd gets louder with screams and boo’s all around.

 

When Shiro was done with the monster’s legs he noticed the ball in the air once again and he runs behind the pillar to wait for the right time again. His body is shaking with adrenaline and fear as ground shakes around him and makes a big crater that he falls into. He grips the sword in his hand so he doesn’t lose it and rolls into the crater and back onto his feet as he jumps up and slams the sword into the side of the crater and pulls himself out of the ground.

 

He looks around for the orb around the arena and sees its on the other side and is about to slam into him again as he runs away from the area he’s at. If he’s right with the way this orb works he has to run away one more time before he can go after Myzax again. As he’s running away he hears the orb zoom right by his ear and catches his right arm and cuts deep. Shiro screams out in pain and falls to the ground as he tries to grab for the sword again.

 

He he catches is in his hand he gets up as quickly as he can and run towards the monster in front of him. Shiro then jumps up and slices up and through the hand holding the weapon in the monster’s hand and watches as it falls the ground as the monster howls in pain and falls to the ground in front of him.

 

He’s breathing deeply as he hears the prisoners scream with joy and are clapping, as the audience in the stands just sit there quietly staring at Shiro in the middle of the ring.

 

“The prisoner has won this round. Take him away. Start with operation Kuron with him. He seems adequate for the job,” the general in the biggest chair says to the guards surrounding Shiro.

 

“Yes Sendak,” the guards replied.

 

The guards bent down and grab both of Shiro’s arms and pull him off the floor and drag him out of the ring and towards another set of double doors.

 

“Where are you taking me,” Shiro yelled as he tried to get away.

 

“You’ll see soon enough,” The guard chuckled.

 

“Let me go please! Let me see my friend,” Shiro pleaded digging his feet into the ground trying to stop them.

 

“We have to take you to the medical wing.” The guards reply pushing him down a hallway.

 

Shiro sighs and continues to walk forward with his arm still burning with pain from the fight.

 

He’s then pushed down another hallway into a medical room and forced onto a table.

 

“Strap him down so we can get this over with,” The alien from the far side of the room ordered the guards holding Shiro.

 

“You can’t do this,” Shiro struggles.

 

The alien scoffed and turned around to the screen in front of him.

 

The guards throw him on a table and strap his arms and legs down on a lab table and pull a strap over his midsection as he’s struggling to get away.

 

Once Shiro is strapped down the alien in the room comes over with a syringe filled with a purple like substance.

 

“If you don’t struggle as much this won’t be as painful,” The alien growled as he brought the syringe to Shiro’s skin on his right arm.

 

Shiro clenched his fist and tried to get his arm away before the purple substance went into his skin, but once he looked down he saw that half of the substance was already inside his body with the rest of it following.

 

He then realised he couldn’t feel his right arm anymore, but the rest of his body felt like it was on fire. He screamed and squirmed in pain as the purple sludge coursed through his veins.

 

“Earthlings react to our quintessence differently than I would expect,” The alien observed closely.

 

“Get away from me,” Shiro growls through clenched teeth.

 

“Still a feisty thing aren’t we? We’ll see about that in a few ticks,” The alien towered over Shiro observing him.

 

Shiro stared at him until he was leaning over his face and spat in the alien’s eye. The towering figure growled and slapped Shiro across the face so hard Shiro’s neck popped and his head was in the other direction.

 

“Only a few more ticks until he succumbs into the sleep sir.” Another alien announced.

 

“Good! The little quiznack deserves what’s coming to him.” He growled in Shiro’s ear.

 

Shiro tried to squirm away but the pain was getting too back for him to even move his head away. His eyes were getting heavy from exhaustion and pain.

 

“Have sweet dreams.” He heard before he went into the void that was sleep.

  
  


Shiro tried his hardest to open his eyes. He tried everything.

 

“Shrio” He faintly heard in the room somewhere.

 

He tried to call out to see who was there, but he couldn’t open his mouth so he whimpered.

 

“You left me. You hurt me. Now I’m by myself with a hurt leg and you’re nowhere to be seen!” He heard near his ear.

 

“Matt?” Shiro muttered out.

 

“Traitor. I can’t believe you did that to me. I thought we loved each other.” Matt replied walking over to the other side of Shiro.

 

Shiro whimpered again as to say no but he heard a malicious laugh as they sat down on top of him on the table.

 

“Don’t lie to me! You did it on purpose because you like to ‘steal the show’. I’ll always be under your shadow! I thought we were in this together.” Matt whispered against his mouth.

 

“Matt.” Shiro muttered and groaned before he was slapped in the face.

 

“You fucking left me!” He heard Matt scream before he was pulled out of the deep sleep he was in.

  
  


“Finally you’re awake. It’s been almost a three quintants.” The alien in the room muttered.

 

“Looks like the accelerated form of quintessence we subjected you to made some of your hair turn color. I wonder what will happen next time.” The alien observed running his hands through the almost white hair on his forehead.

 

The ‘Next time’ was an even worse experience for Shiro. That time they put even more into his arm and cut off his circulation to the rest of his body, thus making his arm a discolored limp branch.  
  
“He can’t fight with an arm that that doesn’t work. Looks like we’ll have to operate before the next match.” The alien stated maliciously.

 

He called for a handful of assistants to come in a hold Shiro down as he came forward with a saw like contraption.

 

“No no no. Please don’t,” Shiro begged.

 

“Your begging won’t help you now.” They replied as they knocked him out cold once again.

  
  


When Shiro awoke later on he felt the most horrible pain in his right arm.

 

He looked over and saw that part of his arm was missing and was replaced with a cyborg prosthetic.

 

All he could do was hyperventilate and shake his head back and forth.

 

“He’s awake. Now we can see what that arm prototype is made of.”

 

Shiro was taken to battle after battle, fight after fight against huge aliens who has also been altered by the aliens he later learned were called the Galra.

 

Shiro was going to find a way out of this place he thought day after day. He was determined.

  
  


Shiro was determined this would be the last time he would feel pain ever in his life.

 

“This is our last chance! Let's finish this!” Shiro cheered to rest of the team.

 

“Yeah!” The rest of the team yelled back as they formed the humongous robot called Voltron.

 

“We can do this guys! Keith, form the sword!” Shiro commanded to his right hand.

 

“Got it!” Keith responded putting his bayard into his dashboard.

 

Voltron reared back and zoomed forward toward Emperor Zarkon.

 

Shiro slammed his bayard into his dashboard followed by the rest of the team and the sword roared to life with fire.

 

Voltron brought its arm back and roared with the paladins and brought the sword forward quickly into the armor of Emperor Zarkon’s armour.

 

Shiro then felt a horrible electrical pain shoot through his whole body as he screamed for mercy.

 

“Shiro!” He heard Keith scream through the coms.

 

All Shiro heard or felt before everything went black was Black comforting him and giving him reassurance.

  


Shiro groaned and squeezing his eyes shut as soon as he hit consciousness.

 

“He’s waking up sir. Hurry we need the doctor in here ASAP.” Someone said hastily.

 

Shiro groaned and put his hand to his forehead realising he had the most horrible headache.

 

“Mr. Shirogane? Are you okay?” The same voice asked.

 

All Shrio did was groan once again and turn over on his side.

 

“I’ll take that as a no then. The doctor should be in here soon to check up on you. If you feel up to it I know someone who is just dying to see you.” The person chuckled.

 

“Who is it?” Shiro asked quietly.

 

“I can’t say. They told me not to tell you, but I promise you’re in no danger here.” They said as someone else came into the room.

 

“Finally the Black Paladin is awake. How are you you feeling Shiro?” The other voice asked.

 

“Dead.” Shiro muttered opening one eye.

 

He could see he was in an almost all white hospital like room with multiple machines he was hooked up to. He looked down to his body and saw he was in all grey clothes and a restraining band around his right arm to make sure he couldn’t use his prosthetic.

 

“You surely aren't dead I can assure you. You have been asleep for a while though. Your friend out there informed me that you were asleep for 1 week earth time.” They replied checking his heartbeat and other vitals.

 

“Who is this ‘friend’ you guys keep talking about? I swear if this is a joke from Lance.” Shiro started.

 

“The Blue Paladin isn’t here, but we have been picking up signals from the Red Paladin searching for you wherever he can.”

 

“Then who is it?” Shiro grumbled out.

 

“If you’re feeling up to it they’re right outside that door for you.” They replied disconnecting him from the multiple machines.

 

Shiro got up slowly from the bed he was lying in and made sure he could stand on his own before walking forward in his sock covered feet.

 

He walked over to the door and looked down at the door knob and reached with his left arm, but the door opened right before he put his hand around the handle.

 

“I couldn’t wait anymore the anticipation was too much!” The person behind the door said quickly.

 

Shiro looked up and his breath hitched in his throat as he saw the person in front of him.

 

He was looking at a tall but slender figure in front of him with brown hair and brown eyes. The figure had a long cloak wrapped around his body, but he could see armor underneath the cloak as well.

 

“Shiro?” They said softly.

 

“Matt?” Shiro replied feeling his eyes start to burn.

 

Shiro took a step forward and put his left hand onto Matt’s face and ran his thumb over the old scar on his right cheek.

 

“Yeah its me,” Matt replied as tears started to well up in his eyes. “Let’s get this thing off of you, you cyborg.”

 

Shiro laughed shyly and felt Matt wrap his hand around the band on his right arm and rip it off. He could feel the power return to his arm as he lift his hand to the other side of Matt’s face.

 

“I knew I would find you again.” Matt said bringing his hands to Shiro’s face and putting his forehead to his.

 

Shiro crashed his lips to Matt’s and closed his eyes fiercely and could feel the tears running down his face as he rubbed his thumbs over Matt’s face.

 

Shiro could feel his knees starting give out from exhaustion as he detached his lips from Matt’s.

 

He fell to his knees in front of Matt and rested his head on Matt’s lower abdomen and hugged him close as he sobbed into Matt’s body. He could feel Matt start to sob as well with gasping breaths in between whimpers as Matt weaved his hands through Shiro’s hair.

“Don’t ever leave me like that ever again. I can’t lose you again.” Matt managed out as he bent down and kissed the top of Shiro’s head over and over again.

 

“I promise,” Shiro sobbed and he hugged Matt closer to him as if Matt was going to disappear again. “I saw you so many times at the prison. You hated me. You yelled at me.”

 

Shiro was sobbing and it was hard for Matt to understand him.

 

“What did they do to you? Babe I would never do anything to hurt you. I knew what you did for me and I will be forever grateful for you to look after me like you did. You sacrificed yourself for me.” Matt replied getting down on his knees to get eye level with Shiro.

 

“You hated me. You hit me. You yelled at me.” Shiro kept repeating to Matt as he closed his eyes as he sobbed.

 

“Shiro. Shiro! Look at me.” Matt said grabbing Shiro’s face in his hands.

 

“I would never hate you, hit you, maybe yell at you if you forget to do the dishes,” He chuckles out, “But I would never do those things to you. Ever. That wasn’t me. They were making you see me like that. I love you too much to do that to you.” Matt replied softly peppering Shiro’s face with kisses.

 

Shiro just nodded and rested his head on Matt’s shoulder as he tried to calm himself and listen to Matt breathe and feel him rub his back softly.

 

“How about we move you to another room with a bathroom and get you cleaned up and back to bed okay? And then we can start to talk about how you and my freaking sister are defending the galaxy!” Matt said pulling away from Shiro so he can look at him in the eyes.

 

Shiro laughed softly and nodded trying to get up with Matt’s help.

 

“Matt. Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for finding me.” Shiro said quietly.

 

“Anything for my space partner.” Matt replied kissing Shiro’s cheek.

  
  


“Shiro wake up babe.” Shiro heard softly next to his ear with a kiss to his cheek afterwards.

 

Shiro hummed and hugged Matt closer to him as Matt chuckled and kissed the top of his head.

 

“We have to go meet one more person before we contact the almighty Voltron.” Matt said pulling on Shiro’s arm.

 

“Who is it? I really don’t wanna see anyone else right now.” Shiro mumbled into his pillow.

 

“Well I’m a little disappointed you didn’t want to see me Shiro considering you’ve been helping my daughter all this time i’ve been away from her.” Shiro heard a voice by the door.

 

Shiro shot up out of the bed and looked at the tall slender man standing in the doorway.

 

“Sam!” Shiro said as he bounded over to him and gave him a big hug.

 

“It’s nice to see you Shiro. Thank you so much for looking after both of my children when I couldn’t.” Sam told him with tears in his eyes.

“Sam it’s really nothing. I would do anything for my second family.” Shiro replied hugging Sam again.

 

“Oh so it wasn’t just because i’m your boo. Okay I get it.” Matt mumbled.

 

“Quit your brooding Matthew.” Sam said chuckling.

 

“All right. Who’s ready to see our little Katie?” Sam asked with the tears returning.

 

“She goes by Pidge now by the way.” Shiro said sitting back down on the bed getting his clothes together to change into.

 

“Really?” Matt asked.

 

“Yeah. There’s a whole story of how that came about actually. She’ll have to tell you.” Shiro told Matt smiling.

 

“I gave her that nickname. She used to hate it.” Matt laughed hugging Shiro’s arm and putting his head on his shoulder.

 

“Well let’s get to this so we can see our little ‘Pidge’ again.” Sam replied almost impatiently.

 

“Slow down dad let Shiro get changed and we’ll meet you in the control room.” Matt said hugging his dad and pushing him out of the room.

 

“Okay hurry up and get changed so we can see our little monsters we call brother and sister.” Matt said heading towards the door as well.

 

“Okay. I’ll be outside soon.” Shiro replied smiling as he went to take his shirt off as Matt walked outside.

 

Shiro quickly changed the rest of his clothes and put on his shoes and walked outside of the room he was in and saw Matt leaning against the wall waiting for him.

 

“Come on Shiro!” Matt bellowed and grabbed his hand and ran down the hallway to the control room where Sam was waiting.

 

“All right boys I got everything set up. Now we just need Shiro to contact Voltron and we’ll be all set.” Sam said wringing his hands together.

 

Shiro let out a deep breath and typed in the codes for contacting the team in case they got separated and waited for someone to pick up the other line.

 

“Hello? This is Princess Allura of Altea. Who is calling?” He heard as he took a big sigh in relief.

 

“Princess.” Shiro said quietly.

 

“Shiro? Shiro! Oh my! Keith get in here!” Allura yelled frantically.

 

“What is it Princess?” Shiro heard an exhausted Keith come running into the control room.

 

“Keith!” Shiro gasped with tears coming to his eyes.

 

“Shiro? Is that you?” Keith asked walking closer to the microphone.

 

“Yeah it’s me.” Shiro replied almost sobbing as Matt hugged his arm closely.

 

“Shiro?” They heard a younger girl's voice ask.

 

“Hey Pidge.” Shiro replied putting his finger to his mouth to Sam and Matt.

 

“Finally we found you! We can send a ship there to get you!” Pidge replied.

 

“No it’s okay the people I’m with have ships that can bring me there. I just need to coordinates.” Shiro said as he saw Sam and Matt silently crying together at the sound of Pidge’s voice.

 

“Okay! I’ll send them on over. Just hurry and get here! I finally got some info on Matt you might want to know about!” She replied excitedly.

 

“Sure I’ll be there as fast as I can Pidgeon.” Shiro replied closing the call and getting the coordinates a second later.

 

“What is she talking about? Info about me?” Matt asked wiping his eyes and sniffling.

 

“Matt she’s been looking for you everywhere. Both of you.” Shiro replied copying down the coordinates so they can get going.

 

“Alright. I got everything. Do you two have the things you need? I need to hurry and get back to them. I need to know what happened. Plus there’s an eager teenage girl waiting for you two.” Shiro said walking towards the door.

 

“Let’s go Dad!” Matt yelled running after Shiro as Sam was laughing.

 

They all piled into a ship the rebels let them borrow and got ready to head on out towards the Castle of Lions.

 

“It says we’ll be there in a few hours. I’m guessing where we fought Zarkon wasn’t too far from here.” Shiro said piloting the ship in the direction they needed to go.

 

“I can’t wait to see Katie’s face when she sees us!” Matt says unable to control his excitement.

 

“Also there’s Voltron I would love to see.” Sam replied nodding.

 

“Of course! I’m sure Pidge will give you the big tour as I walk to the others about the future plans we have.” Shiro said laughing.

 

Matt and Sam asked questions about Pidge and Voltron on the way there and before they knew it they saw the Black Lion flying towards them.

 

Shiro hurriedly put on a space suit so he could go outside of the ship as Matt took over the controls and flew out to Black as she roared loudly and opened her mouth.

 

Shiro felt the equivalent of a cat purring and nuzzling its owner in his head as he sat down in the chair in the cockpit.

 

“Hey girl.” Shiro said softly closing his eyes.

 

“Shiro! Get your butt in this castle! Bring your rescuers as well! We need to thank them!” He heard Lance scream through the connection of his Lion.

 

“Okay okay i’m coming,” Shiro replied, “Come on girl let’s go see everyone.”

 

Shiro signaled for the Holts to follow him into the Black Lion hanger.

 

As he landed the Black Lion he saw all the other waiting for him including the Blade of Marmora.

 

Black leaned down and let Shiro out and he was immediately tackled by Keith who had tears in his eyes.

 

“Don’t EVER leave me again! A teenager needs his big brother!” Keith said hitting Shiro’s arms softly.

 

“I promise I won’t go anywhere.” Shiro chuckled softly.

 

“Shiro. Who is in the ship?” Allura asked.

 

“Let me go get them hold on.” Shiro replied smiling at Pidge softly.

 

Shiro turned around and walked towards the ship and knocked on the door which opened and revealed a teary Matt and Sam Holt.

 

“Matt? Dad?” Pidge gasped.

 

“Katie.” Sam said as he got off the ship.

 

Pidge ran over and hugged both of them tightly and cried.

 

“I’ve been looking for you two for forever! I’ve missed you so much!” Pidge sobbed into her their shoulders.

 

“Shiro how the hell did you find them?” Keith asked with his arms crossed.

 

“Well when I disappeared Blackie sent me to a safe place. Little did I know the safe place she thought of was with Matt wherever he was. Sam was there as well but Matt was the first person I saw other than the doctors.” Shiro replied trying not to look at the touching reunion.

 

“Well I’m glad she took you to a safe place with them.” Keith said putting a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Shiro get your butt over here! Keith you too!” Matt said opening his arms for the invitation.

 

Shiro walked over and bent down in front of Pidge and gave her a warm smile.

 

“I told you I would help you find them didn’t I?” He asked her.

 

She nodded tearfully and hugged him close.

 

The rest of them piled into the hug and was soon ended by Hunk come into the room screaming dinner was ready.

 

They all got up off the floor and walked together to the dining room where dinner was going to be served.

 

Once they got to the dining room introductions took place for everyone who didn’t know each other. Once those were all over they all got into digging into the food and the room was filled with a comfortable silence with a joke from Lance every now and then.

 

Shiro looked around him as he sat at the dinner table after their last meal of food goo for the day, and saw smiling faces, hugs, laughs, and friends.

 

“Hey what are you thinking about up there?” Matt asked sitting in the chair left of Shiro.

 

“Nothing much really. Just that I’m finally able to rest knowing everyone I care for is safe and around me.” Shiro replied placing his hand on top of Matt’s.

 

Matt smiled back at Shiro and placed his head on Shiro’s shoulder.

 

Lance was whispering something into Keith’s ear as Keith was smiling and snickering with his eyes closed and nose crinkled. Hunk was talking to Sam about different tech and scientific things. Pidge was sitting by her dad close to sleep as her head leans on Sam’s shoulder lightly.

 

Allura came over to Shiro and Matt and smiled.

 

“Shiro it’s so nice to have you back here with us. We’ve missed you so much,” She says softly and rests a hand on Shiro’s unoccupied shoulder, “I’m also assuming Matt won’t be needing a living quarters as it looks like you guys are quite comfortable with each other.

 

“You’re right. We’ve been close for a while now.” Shiro smiled down at Matt squeezing his hand.

 

“Again as I said back on Kerberos. If you guys don’t get married I would be very disappointed.” Sam says chuckling.

 

Shiro nodded and smiled.

 

“My father has a point Shiro. So what do you think? Wanna get hitched boo?” Matt suggested almost to the point of laughter.

 

“Matt you can’t just ask him like that!” Lance squealed, turning to Keith, “Don’t ever think about asking me like that Mullet.”

 

Shiro put his hand on his head on his cheek and leaned into it.

 

“Hmm. I guess I could be okay with it.” Shiro replies smiling.

 

“I can’t wait for this earth ceremony!” Allura smiles clapping her hands together.

 

“I love you. So much. Never forget that okay.” Matt said kissing his softly.

 

“I love you too. So much.” Shiro replied kissing him back.

 

Everyone cheered and clapped for the both of them and hugs went around again as well as congratulations.

 

Shiro looked around and realized that everything he went through wasn’t in vain after all. He wouldn’t change anything.


End file.
